Public Knowledge President and co-founder Gigi B. Sohn today congratulated the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on being named to PC World’s list of “Most Anti-Tech Organizations in America.”
According to the magazine: “The Internet economy should be a boon for digital media companies and for those of us that like to buy our music and video online. It's also a very powerful way to connect with people of like mind with a view toward learning about new things to watch and listen to. Unfortunately, the content owners in the record and movie industries have mainly seen the Web as a platform for piracy, and have mainly failed to adapt their businesses to the realities of online, as one lonely industry executive recently admitted.”
The story concluded: “Whether or not the RIAA's and MPAA's tactics have really helped the entertainment industry is debatable. Their legal and lobbying tactics have put real limitations on the way that we consumers are allowed to use the digital content we purchase, causing many of us to wonder if we truly own the digital content we buy. The digital rights management (DRM) software that the content owners wrap around our music and video files often prevents us from playing media on all of our devices, copying it, or owning it forever. This has stirred up a lot of resentment, even as file sharing continues to be rampant around the globe.”
Sohn said: “Unfortunately, this year’s honor was well-deserved, but we hope those two associations will change their outlook and policy goals and not appear on the list next year. We look forward to working in 2008 with an RIAA and MPAA that are more consumer-friendly and tech-friendly.”
The full text of the story is here.
Also named in the story were large telecom companies Verizon and AT&T and their trade association, as well as large wireless companies and their trade group as well as the National Association of Broadcasters.
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